REFLECTIONS

Of Resolutions and Traditions

Fr. Roberto E. N. Rivera, S. J.

Grade School First Friday Mass, 5 January 2007

Exodus 34: 4-6, 8-9;  Matthew 11: 25-30

Posted Friday, 12-Jan-2007 7:28 AM

     At the start of the new year, two things often come to mind. 

     First, there are many little traditions we observe to bring good luck for the coming  year.  For instance, we are asked to place round fruits on the table to ensure prosperity for our families.  Similarly, people are asked to wear polka dots so that they may have health and wealth.  I remember my mother telling me never to sweep out the dirt of the house on new year’s eve, lest I sweep out the good fortune for the year as well.  Children are asked to jump high at the stroke of midnight so that they may grow taller. 

     Second, we often have many resolutions for the new year.  If we have been eating a bit too much during the holidays, we probably resolve to diet or to lose weight for the coming year.  We might resolve to try to accomplish something we have neglected or have never done before.  We resolve to be better persons and to develop our character.

     All these traditions and resolutions are well and good.  However, as we begin this new year, it is important to ask ourselves, what does God truly want us to ask of Him at the start of the year?  What does God want us to set our hearts and minds to resolve over the next twelve months?  Our readings for this first Friday Mass offer us important insights on what we should aspire for in this new year God has given us.

     In our first reading from the book of Exodus, we find Moses bringing down two stone tablets on which Yahweh had once again written the words of the ten commandments.  The people of Israel had broken these commandments numerous times.  They are a “stiff necked people” who have to be reminded that while God is merciful and just, He also demands our obedience.  At the start of the year, therefore, one important grace we can ask for is that of obedience to God’s will for us in our lives.  This is, in a sense, a “master resolution” that we can make for the year.  For if we are open and obedient to God’s promptings in our lives, all the other little resolutions we make, if these are in accord with God’s desires, will surely follow.  To be obedient to God is to obey His longings and desires for all of us, and in doing so, we fulfill our deepest longings and desires as well.

     Aside from obedience, we may also want to ask God for the grace of wisdom.  At the start of the gospel reading from Matthew, we have Jesus exclaiming that what the Father has revealed through Him has been hidden from the wise and learned, and revealed to the merest children.  When we ask for wisdom, therefore, we refer not just to the knowledge that we will once again accumulate as we return to our lessons and subjects (although these remain important).  Rather, what Jesus wants us to comprehend are the values He preaches through His words and actions, the values of the Kingdom that He proclaims.  When we ask for wisdom, therefore, we ask that we grow in these values.  At the end of the year, it is not enough to get high grades of numerous academic awards.  We have to ask ourselves:  are we truly men of wisdom?  Have we followed Christ’s example?

     Finally, we are invited at the start of the year to become more trusting persons, to trust fully in God’s will.  We are all familiar with these words of Jesus in our gospel:  “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”  It is but fitting that we entrust ourselves to God, for in truth, despite all our traditions and resolutions we can never really be sure what the new year will bring.  It may be a truly prosperous and happy one as we all desire.  Or, like the past year, it may be filled with many challenges or even calamities for us and our country.  But if we truly trust in the Lord, then we stand unshaken no matter what the new year brings.  Firmly established on the foundation of faith, we can peacefully and gracefully accept everything as willed by God in His providence.

     I am sure many of you were shocked as we were in the Jesuit community when we learned of the death of Huey Yao, his elder brother and mother in that tragic fire at Corinthian Gardens.  It is during moments like these that we realize how important the graces we ask for at the start of the year are.  Shocked as we are at the death of Huey at such a young age, we ask for obedience to accept what has happened in the mystery of God’s plan, where our loving Lord will truly make all things well.  We pray for wisdom, so that we may realize that even in his short life, Huey has truly manifested God’s love and grace in his youthful enthusiasm, in his numerous gifts and talents, and in the friendships he has cultivated among his classmates.  And in trust, we accept that Huey is now in a better and happier place in the presence of the Father,.  Even as we will miss him terribly, we trust that he is sharing in the joy of heaven that all of us hope to one day share.  As we continue these Eucharist, we pray then for Huey, his family, and his classmates.  We pray for the grace of obedience, wisdom, and trust as we offer this new year to our heavenly Father.

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